SOUTHWESTERN ASSEMBLIES OF GOD UNIVERSITY
HIS 2243 Western Civilization II
Instructor: Dr. Mary Jackson Spring 2005
A survey of the political, social, and cultural aspects of European and American civilization from the Age of Discovery until the present time. Nationalism, colonization, technology, revolutions, and industrialization receive special emphasis.
Upon completion of the course, students should be able to:
Spielvogel, Jackson P. Western Civilization A Brief History Volume II: Since 1500. 3rd Edition. Florence, KY: Wadsworth Thomson Learning, 2005.
The course will cover chapters 15-29 of the text. The course will be organized into the following basic sections:
Early Modern Europe
The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Era
Industrialization, Imperialism, and World War I,
1920 to the present
Course Requirements
A. Five Tests
B. Six Reading Quizzes
C. Paper on Schaeffer Videos on Reserve in the Nelson SAGU Library
D. Book Review—Requirements are in the syllabus
Tests Dates and Due Dates:
Test #1—February 8
Test #2—March 1
Test #3—April 5
Test #4—April 26
Test #5—Final Exam Week May 3-5
Book Review Due—March 10
Research Paper Due—April 12
Directions
for Book Review
1. The review should be typed and double–spaced. Use 1-inch margins and 10-12 pitch.
2. The ideal length is 3-5 pages.
3. Emphasize the author’s thesis-or main idea-in the book review. What are the author’s conclusions? Upon what evidence is the book based?
4. Do some research on the author and include this in your review. Who is the author? Where was he/she educated? Does he/she teach? Has he/she written other books; if so, what are they?
5. Read some published book reviews of the book. What have others said about the book? Is the book highly regarded or has it been criticized? Why?
6. You will be graded on both content and style, so make sure your review is cogent, well written, and as free of grammatical errors as you can make it. Proofread your paper carefully!
Choose a book that you think you will enjoy. If you do, the reading and writing will be easier, and you will learn much more from the assignment.
Directions
for Paper
1. The paper must be six (6) pages long. Margins should be one inch on all sides. Beginning with the second page, number each page in the upper right hand corner.
2. All papers must be typed, double-spaced. Handwritten papers will not be accepted. Use 10-12 pitch and letter quality print.
3. Check for grammar and spelling errors. Proof read your paper carefully.
4. Vol.#2 covers the “The Revolutionary Age-The Scientific Age- The Age of Non-Reason-The Age of Fragmentation.” Vol.#3 covers “The Age of Personal Peace and Affluence.”
Your paper must answer the following questions:
Episode V – “The Revolutionary Age”
1. What has been the role of biblical principles in the legal and political history of English history? Why did the French have an “unsuccessful revolution”?
2. Is it true that lands influences by the Reformation escaped political violence because biblical principles were acted upon?
3. What were the weaknesses that developed at a later date in countries that had a Reformation history?
4. Dr. Schaeffer believed that basic to action is an idea, and that the history of the West in the last two or three centuries has been marked by a humanism pressed to its tragic conclusions and by a Christianity then approach participation in social and political affairs?
Episode VI – “The Scientific Age”
1. Explain the important contributions to science made by biblical principles.
2. How should our knowledge of the biblical view of work and nature affect our own attitudes to research, study of the Bible, and the use of our minds?
3. Why does this segment help you to understand how and why men of great intellectual refinement in Nazi Germany could accept what was going on?
4. Discuss the statement: “Without the absolute line which Christianity gives of the total uniqueness of Man, people have no boundary line between what they can do and what they should do.”
Episode VII – “The Age of Non-Reason”
1. What is the difference between theologians and philosophers of the rationalist tradition and those of the existentialist tradition?
2. What is the rational conclusion of an existentialist world-view?
3. “It is true that existentialist theology is foreign to biblical religion. But biblical religion was the product of a particular culture and, though useful for societies in the same cultural stream, it is no longer suitable for an age in which an entire range of world cultures requires a common religious denominator. Religious existentialism provides that, without losing the universal instinct for the holy.” Study this statement carefully. What assumptions are betrayed by it?
4. Can you is isolate attitudes and tendencies in yourself and your community that reflect the “existentialist methodology” described by Dr. Schaffer?
Episode VIII – “The Age of Fragmentation”
1. Explain what “fragmentation” means, as discussed by Schaeffer. What does it result from? Gives examples of it.
2. Apart from the fact that modern printing and recording processes make the art and music of the past more accessible that ever before, do you think that the preference of many people for the art and music of the past related to the matters discussed by Dr. Schaeffer. If so, how?
3. Discuss what Emerson wrote over a century ago: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds…With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.”
4. Discuss: How far do you think that the opinion of some Christians that one should have nothing to do with philosophy, art, and novels is a manifestation of the very fragmentation which is characteristic of modern secular thought?
Episode IX – “The Age of Personal Peace and Affluence”
1. What was the basic cause of campus unrest in the sixties? What has happened to the campus scene since, and why?
2. What elements—in the life and through the communist and noncommunist world alike—suggest a possible base for world agreement?
3. Discuss: “To prophesy doom about Western society is premature. We are, like all others who have lived in times of great change, too close to the details to see the broader picture. One thing we do know: Society has always gone on, and the most wonderful epochs have followed the greatest depressions. To suggest that our day is the exception says more about our headache than it does about our head.
4. As Dr. Schaeffer shows, many apparently isolated events and options gain new meaning when seen in the context of the whole. How far does your own involvement in business, law, and financing and so on reveal an acquiescence to current values?
Just a Note:
Students are not allowed to use cell phones in the classroom. No calls or text messaging allowed during class time.
Students are not to wear hats, caps, or head-coverings in class.
Students must adhere to the Dress Code as outlined in the Student Handbook pp.57-60.
Bibliography
A student may choose a non-fiction book in the time frame of Western Civilization II (ca 1589-present). There is a comprehensive “Suggestions For Further Reading” at the end of each chapter in the textbook. The book chosen for the book review must be approved by the instructor.
Paper on Francis A. Schaeffer’s video series (vol. #2 Episodes V, VI, VII, VIII and Episode IX of vol. #3) How Should We Then Live?”
Course
Requirements
1. Five major exams covering material in the textbook and class lectures. The fifth test, the final, is comprehensive.
2. Six reading quizzes covering textbook material will be given as the instructor judges necessary to ensure that students are keeping up with the assigned reading. The lowest grade for the reading quizzes will be dropped as there will be no make-up for a missed reading quiz.
3. One book review, of a book chosen by the student and approved by the instructor, will be written. Instructions for the book review are included in the syllabus. There is a “Suggestions for Further Reading” at the end of each chapter in the textbook.
4. One paper on the Francis A. Schaeffer Video Series.
Course Requirements
Jan 20 – Go over syllabus
Jan 25 – Chapter 15
Jan 27 – Chapter 16
Feb 1 – Chapter 17
Feb 3 – Chapter 18
Feb 8 – First Exam (Chapters 15-18)
Feb 10 – Chapter 19
Feb 15 – Chapter 20
Feb 17 – Chapter 21
Feb 22 –
Feb 24 – Chapter 22
March 1 – Second Exam (Chapters 19-22)
March 3 – Chapter 23
March 8 – Chapter 24
March 10 – Book Review Due
March 11-20 – Spring Break
March 22 – Chapter 25
March 24 –
March 29 – Chapter 26
March 31 – Campus Days
April 5 – Third Exam (chapters 23-26)
April 7 – Chapter 27
April 12 – Paper Due
April 14 – Chapter 28
April 19 – Chapter 29
April 21 –
April 26 – Fourth Exam (Chapters 27-29)
April 28 – Review for Final Exam
May 3-5 Final Exams
Exam 1 – 1/8 of the final grade
Exam 2 – 1/8 of the final grade
Exam 3 – 1/8 of the final grade
Exam 4 – 1/8 of the final grade
Final Exam – 1/8 of the final grade
Research Paper – 1/8 of the final grade
Book Review – 1/8 of the final grade
Reading Quiz Average– 1/8 of the final grade
Grading System
Letter grades will be used to indicate the following levels of achievement:
90-100 = A; 80-89 = B; 70-79 = C; 60-69 = D; 59 and below = F; I (incomplete); and W (withdrawn)
Office Hours, Telephone and Email Information
Office A113-C
Office Hours – MWF 11:15 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
TTH 10:40 a.m. – 12:10 p.m.
Telephone – 1.888.YES.SAGU
1.972.937.4010
1.817.247.0732 (Instructor’s Home)
Tests will be both objective and essay questions. Objective questions will account for 75% of the value of each test. Objective questions will be multiple choice. The essay will count for 1/3 of the value of the test.
Class
Policies
1. Attendance
Southwestern’s on-campus academic program is designed as an in-class learning experience. In this type of instructional setting, the ability to pass examinations and complete outside projects is only a partial measure of the student’s knowledge, skills, understanding, and appreciation of the subject matter. Therefore, students are required to maintain regular and punctual class attendance.
Absences which exceed twenty percent (20%) of the number of times that a class meets per semester, regardless of the nature or reason for the absences, will result in the student being automatically administratively dropped from the course, receiving a grade of “WP or WF.” (The student will be assessed the established course withdrawal fee.)
A student who is absent from a class is totally responsible to make the appropriate advanced arrangements with the faculty member for possible make up work. The faculty member will have the prerogative to determine if a student may make up examinations or outside assignments based upon the reason for a student’s absence and when the make up work must be completed. However, no point deduction will be assessed to a student’s final grade for absenteeism.
As a reminder, “School Assignment” is no longer given for any type of absence. Therefore, all absences will impact the number allowed by the attendance policy.
2. Tardy
Students missing fifteen minutes of a class will be counted as absent for that session. Every three tardies acquired in classes that meet three times per week and every two tardies acquired in classes that meet twice a week will be considered an absence. The student is responsible, at the end of class, to identify his/her tardiness to the professor. No changes will be made after the date of the student’s tardiness.
3. Late Work/Make-up Exams
Required work such as a project will be penalized one letter grade for each class day it is late up through the fourth day. No further penalty will be given after that, but the work may still be turned in up to the end of he semester.
All students in class on an exam day will take the exam. A student missing a major exam will not be allowed to take a make-up exam unless a valid excuse is presented. A major exam must be made up by the next class day.
Reading quizzes are not considered major tests. There will be no make-ups for reading quizzes. A missed reading quiz will be recorded as a zero. A student’s lowest reading quiz grade will be dropped before averaging.
4. Final Examinations
During the Final Exam Week, a final exam will be administered in class the time that the university has established as printed in the class schedule. No final exam will be given prior to final exam week. Students with scheduling problems may arrange with the professor (subject to the professor’s approval) to take an exam at an alternate time. The arrangement must be done the week prior to Exam Week. The alternate exam time is listed in the Spring 2005 Final Exam Week Schedule.
Graduating senior with a grade of a “B” of higher within the course may be exempted from the last examination of the course if the professor designated if as a comprehensive final exam. However, a graduating senior with a grade of “B” or higher within the course, at the professor’s prerogative may or may not be exempted from a unit exam given during the Final Exam Week.
5. Cheating
Students are expected to be
honest in fulfilling all academic requirements and assignments. This pertains
to examinations, themes, book critiques, reading reports, all assignments. A
student will not be allowed to withdraw from a course if he/she is under
investigation for academic dishonesty. In the event that the student is
determined guilty for academic dishonesty, then the student will not be allowed
to withdraw from the course and will receive a grade
determined by the faculty member, either an “F” for the assignment and/or an
“F” for the course. Dishonesty could result in further disciplinary action (see
MAJOR INFRACTIONS).
6. Miscellaneous
Students must wait fifteen minutes for a faculty member before leaving class unless they have been notified otherwise.
The following policy regarding the posting of grades was approved for 1999-2000. To eliminate any potential violation of the Privacy Act for Students, student’s grades for exams or other assignments will not be posted.
Students are expected to come to class prepared to take notes, to participate, and to show respect in the class.
Please feel free to contact the instructor any time you have a question.
Please use the proper Title Pages for your project assignments, The instructor will provide the Title Pages.